At length the whole party got off in sundry leiterwagen, a vehicle which has no counterpart in England, and the literal rendering of a ladder-waggon hardly conveys the proper notion of the thing itself.  This long cart, it is needless to say, is without springs; but it has the faculty of accommodating itself to the inequalities of the road in a marvellous manner.  It has, moreover, a snake-like vertebrae, and even twists itself when necessary.

My guns never came after all, and I was obliged to borrow.  The one lent me had one barrel smooth-bore, the other rifled.

We drove for some distance along the Hatszeg highroad, then turned off to the right.  Continuing our course for some time, we came to the pretty little village of Moeruel, where we breakfasted.  It was quite the cleanest and neatest Wallack settlement that I had seen at all.  It is celebrated for the beauty of its women.  Several very pretty girls in their picturesque costume were gathered round the village well, engaged in filling their classical-shaped pitchers.  Every movement of their arms was grace itself.  The action was not from the elbow, but from the shoulder, whereby one sees the arm extended in the curved line of beauty, instead of sticking out at a sharp angle, as with us Western races.

The weather had improved considerably.  Our breakfast, for which we halted on the further outskirts of the village, was very agreeably discussed amidst much general good-humour.  The peasants regarded us with frank undisguised curiosity, coming round to watch our proceedings.

After leaving Moeruel we got really into the wilds.  A very bad road led up through a magnificent valley, the scenery most romantic; indeed every turn brought to view some new aspect, calling forth admiration.  On our right was a fine trout-stream of that delicious brown tint welcome to the eye of the fisherman.  At times the water was seen breaking over a rocky bed with much foam and fret, and then would find for itself a tranquil pool beneath the shadow of some mighty beech-tree.

The foliage of the forest, which closed down upon the valley, was simply magnificent.  The trees in the Southern Carpathians are far finer than those of the Austrian Alps; they attain a greater average height.  The variety, too, was very striking in many places.  The strip of green pasturage that bordered our road was fringed with weeping birch-trees, which gave a singular charm to the woodland scene.

A turn in the direction of the valley brought us within sight of the high range of mountains forming the frontier between Hungary and Roumania.  Some of the higher summits were ominously covered with dirty clouds.  It was observed that they were lifting, at least some of the most sanguine thought so.  However, judging from my former experiences in Upper Austria and Styria, I could not say that I thought it was a good sign, supposing even they were lifting.  I think myself there is better chance of fine weather in high regions when the clouds descend and disappear in the valleys.